Aprilia’s supermotard – wild thing comes to town

I had never ridden a “Supermotard" before – and we’ll come to exactly what it is in a minute.

The important thing, first up, was that it was absolutely bucketing down when I turned up at Aprilia’s HQ, so much so there was standing water everywhere and very poor visibility.

Peak hour was just starting and I was staring down the barrel of an hour’s cross-city ride on a tall, narrow lightweight vehicle with a peaky 67 kW through a single back wheel shod with a semi-slick tyre.

Nervous? Well, a little.

Fortunately, here’s where the magic of modern technology comes in.

Despite the Supermotard being almost purpose-built for fun and on-the-edge riding (“they are great for doing unsocial things" as one keen and very possibly antisocial rider told me), this Aprilia has a three-stage throttle mapping button.

When switched to the rain setting, this feisty thing became as docile as a scooter. It wasn’t going to break traction no matter what, let alone throw me off and start kicking me once I hit the bitumen, which is the first impression the bike gave me.

The ever-present danger of text-as-they-drive drongos in cars and other mobile hazards remained, along with poor visibility, but the bike was rock solid.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Once the rain had gone, a simple toggle through the menu afforded the choice of “T" for “touring" and “S" for “sport", or perhaps “scary". The T proved suitable for commuting, while the switch to S turned everything up to 11.

I can’t recall any other vehicle being transformed so dramatically by pushing an innocuous looking button.

The feeling was that I had suddenly found an extra 300 or 400 cc. The snarly, jumpy ball of pent-up energy that this bike had become was constantly cajoling me to go harder and harder.

So back to the original question: what is a Supermotard?

It’s a curious type of road-registerable bike derived from Supermotard racing, a hybrid sport held partly on bitumen and partly on dirt, just like old-fashioned automotive rallycross.

It started in the US, mainly as a television stunt to compare the skills of racers from different motorcycling categories.

When it lost favour there, it was reborn and further developed in Europe, then exported back to the United States.

Aprilia has long been involved, with several world championships on the corporate sideboard.

The ideal vehicle for Supermotard racing is an off-road style bike running road tyres and with a very powerful engine.

At some point someone discovered these bikes could be fun in the city too, and soon several makers began spitting them out with headlights and tail-lights, blinkers and tiny brackets for number plates.

The upmarket city version was born.

Ducati has even put a superbike engine into one and called it a Hypermotard.

For those of us who started riding on dirt, the upright motocross/trail bike seating position is instantly familiar and comforting.

The acceleration, though, is far more akin to a large-capacity street bike.

A road-going Supermotard is one of those concepts that seems to make no sense yet, once behind the handlebars, it is so much fun you are quite prepared to suspend all notions of practicality and good sense.

Dorsoduro means hard spine; the model is based on another Aprilia called the Shiver, which may or may not be a gentle joke.

Power comes from a high-tech 90 degree liquid cooled vee-twin that pushes out 67.3 kW.

Torque is 82 Nm at a lowish 4500 rpm, all the better for punching out of corners. The marketing literature stresses that the bike is designed for “extreme power slides", though we’re sure they meant to add “in controlled conditions".

There is a conventional six-speed transmission and long-travel, adjustable suspension front and rear.

Aprilia has affixed the letters ABS to the end of the name to remind us it has anti-lock brakes (a good thing too).

The practicality issues include the bike’s inability to carry any luggage (except on your back) and a small fuel capacity (12 litres, which may last only 150km or so if you ride energetically).

There is a second seat – sort of – but it doesn’t look comfortable. There’s an oddly positioned high-beam switch that I kept knocking on, too.

Yet every trip was fun, with the bike happy under all conditions. The rider too. It’s a surprisingly different experience to a sports bike or a cruiser.

If three-quarters of a litre isn’t enough, there is also a 1200 cc version, priced at a bit over $4000 extra.